There's nothing 'fair' about it

James L. Lambert - Guest Columnist - 10/22/2008 10:40:00 AM

There is a real possibility that if Democrats obtain firm control of all three branches of government after this November's election, the "Fairness Doctrine" will be enacted -- and talk radio will be inexorably altered. Democratic leaders Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have strongly indicated that they would support legislation to bring back the oppressive policy. (See related article)

The Fairness Doctrine is the government's attempt to mandate that media outlets provide an outlet for opposing views in political discussions, no matter what the argument. But what about the U.S. Constitution, the document at the heart of our federal government?  The First Amendment specifies that "Congress shall make no law...prohibiting the free exercise of...speech, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press or the right of the people...to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
 
I submit to you that Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid would not commit their fellow Democrats to this legislation if talk radio were not dominated by conservative hosts.
 
For the last 15 years, talk radio has been dominated by conservative thought.  Liberals have attempted to invade this medium, but their format and discussion have simply not been popular with the public.  The top-tier national radio shows in America have been one of the few places conservative political talk can be articulated.
 
Despite the commercial success of modern-day conservative talk radio, this type of political discourse is noticeably absent from any of the three major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC).  Conservative thought is rarely articulated in the vast majority of our major news periodicals and magazines (e.g., TIME, Newsweek, USA Today).  Conservative thought is conspicuously absent from the editorial boards of most major newspapers in metropolitan areas across the country.  Yet Congress, if dominated by Democrats after the November 4 election, will be hell bent on enacting the Fairness Doctrine, which will ultimately stifle free speech.
 
In comments provided exclusively to OneNewsNow, nationally syndicated radio talk-show host Michael Medved explains that the Fairness Doctrine would reduce and largely eliminate political discussion on the radio -- not expand it.
 
"Any conservative station that [is] forced to provide liberal talkers for 'balance' would go out of business, just like any liberal station forced to include conservative talkers on an equal time basis would go out of business," says Medved.  "The idea is similar to requiring every classical station to balance Mozart with Hip Hop and Country."
 
Medved continues: "When the Fairness Doctrine was in force before, station owners and managers just avoided political talk shows altogether....It is interesting that advocates for this horrible idea always talk about 'balancing' conservative talk radio and FOX News, but never discuss balancing Air America and MSNBC."
 
The talk-show host offers this dire prediction if the "unholy trinity" of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid jointly assume power come January: "Free political discourse in mass media faces an uncertain future."
 
Medved shares this concern with other conservative commentators -- Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Mike Gallagher, Mark Levin, Dennis Prager, Roger Hedgecock, and Hugh Hewitt among them.
 
One of the major tenants of the U.S. Constitution is the First Amendment. And millions of American soldiers throughout our nation's history have fought to preserve this most precious right: political free speech. Remember that on November 4.

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